Chasing Yesterday
by GaleSynch
Summary: AU:"Make me fall for you one more time, Perseus Jackson."—Percy lost the 2nd Titan War, yet when the possibility of a second chance comes from the lips of his lover, his battles begin anew. Time Travel/Redo. Fem!Luke/Percy. Lercy. One-sided/mentions of Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay everyone, I know I have many stories in the works already but I couldn't help myself. This story is a AU Fem!Luke story. I love pairing Percy with others beside Annabeth (though I already have a Percabeth story up to show my love for the canon pairing as well).**

**I unfortunately can't write slash to save my life, I love reading it (especially Luke/Percy) but I can't write it. So I made Luke a female; there aren't many stories where he's a female anyway. **

**Anyways please, read and review.**

**Oh, and changes to ages so as to not make Luke seem like a creeper. Percy's age will remain the same. Luke, or Lucia in this story, on the other hand, will be younger. She'll be turning fifteen by the time Percy arrived at Camp. So the age difference will be three years.**

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**Chasing Yesterday**

**Prologue: One More Time.**

* * *

_It hurts_, was Percy's first thoughts when he was flung backwards, dazed from the impact. Then his next thoughts was: _Ridiculous_. He'd braved the Curse of The Achilles, he shouldn't be vulnerable to physical attacks. But that's just it, he was invulnerable to physical attacks; a pain that couldn't compare to the pain of the heart.

Lucia Castellan , host of Kronos smirked down at him. Percy himself couldn't believe Kronos would take a female body as his vessel—yes, Kronos' a male—but he can understand. Unless Kronos want to wait for who-knows-how-long, he'll just have to bear with it and by all means, Lucia Castellan's body isn't weak.

"Lucia..." Percy murmured. "Don't do this...please—" He pleaded though he knew it was futile. Kronos' smirk faltered slightly, but he brought his sword up anyway, ready to bring it down.

"Stop!" Annabeth yelled. The Titan King spun to face her, slashing Backbiter as he went. Annabeth was able to counter it with the hilt of her dagger hilt, showing just how skilled her best friend was with the knife she was so fond of—a gift from Lucia.

Percy watched with wide eyes as Annabeth held the Titan back, their blades locked. Percy didn't know how Annbeth pulled it off, seeing as she was badly injured already.

"Lucia," Annabeth said, eyes narrowed, "I understand, but you have to trust me."

Kronos growled in fury. "Lucia Castellan is dead! Her body belongs to me, and will burn away as I am released into my true form!"

"Your mother. She saw your fate when you were a baby," Annabeth said, her face determined yet pained.

"Serving me, that is her fate!" Kronos cried angrily.

"No!" Annabeth argued, the pain clear on her face. Percy struggled to his feet, if he just laid there and watch them fight, he didn't know he will take it. He might break down.

"I will kill you, you ignorant child!" the Titan roared and Annabeth smiled sadly.

"You won't though," Annabeth said sadly, but hopeful. "You promised."

"LIES!" Kronos yelled in outrage.

Percy watched struck by anger, shock and fear as the Titan King backhanded Annabeth across the face, before kicking her in the stomach. Annabeth was thrown across the room and hit a pillar close to one of the Olympian thrones.

Kronos glared at Annabeth and raised his sword, prepared to move towards the hurt girl. She was shaking her head as if trying to clear it, Percy was sure Annabeth had hit her head on the pillar. Being kicked in the gut and backhanded by a Titan probably didn't feel too good either.

"Family, Luke. You promised." Annabeth coughed weakly. Kronos' body went rigid, eyes once golden flashed blue—or maybe it was Lucia?, hope blossomed in Percy's chest before he squashed it down ruthlessly—and he stumbled backwards.

"A-Annabeth..." Kronos—no, Lucia murmured. She stumbled backwards, as if she didn't have full control over her own body.

"Lucia!" Percy cried. Slowly, Lucia turned to look at him. Her eyes flooded with relief and grief.

Her blue eyes were dilated, as if she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings. "Percy...You're bleeding..." she murmured, dazed.

"My knife." Annabeth tried to raise her dagger, but it clattered out of her hand. Her arm was bent at a funny angle. "Percy, please…"

Percy gritted his teeth against the pain and surged forward, scooping up Annabeth's knife. He knocked Backbiter out of Lucia's hand who didn't even fought to keep her sword. Percy's sea-green eyes locked with Lucia's sapphire orbs. It seemed as if he was looking at her for an eternity before he finally averted his gaze away.

"The knife, Percy," Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero… cursed blade…"

Kronos growled at hearing her voice. "Girl..." He whirled around and reached for Backbiter that had spun into the hearth when Percy had knocked it away. Kronos reached for his sword but dropped it almost immediately after. He screamed in pain and collasped onto the ground, breathing hard.

It was the most bizarre thing Percy had ever seen and all he could do was watch as it happen. But then Lucia's voice came back. She turned, clutching her ruined hands. "Please, Percy…" Her pleading eyes made him walked forward, towards her.

"You can't… can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can… can keep him controlled." Lucia smiled painfully. "Trust me...Percy...you always do, don't you?"

Annabeth watched, confused. What had Lucia meant by that?

Choking down a sob, Percy numbly knelt beside her. "I...isn't there another way?" He knew. He knew perfectly well what Lucia needed to do. And he can't bear to see it happen.

Lucia didn't answer. Then her body spasm "He's changing!" Lucia's eyes widened in horror as were the the eyes of the other occupants in the room. "The dagger!" She screamed, voice desperate. "Give it to me!"

Percy hesitated a second too long. By the time he managed to unfroze himself from the shock, Lucia's body had already begun to disperse. Lucia buried her face into her charred palms and screamed in pain; Percy found himself screaming in pain as well.

**PxL**

The golden glow...it was too late. Kronos is already reformed. Percy didn't know for how long he had screamed. Or when did he stop.

It was silent for far too long.

And...where was he?

Percy realized that he was afloat, feeling completely weightless in this endless abyss of white. He looked around, his body and mind numb.

"Percy." Said boy whirled around when he heard the _oh-so-painfully-familiar_ voice call his name. His eyes locked with baby blue eyes. The shade of ice glaciers yet it held warmth in them. Warmth only for him.

"Lucia." He repeated, feeling overwhelmed. Then he broke down as the events of what had happened caught up with him. "I...I failed." He choked. "Everyone's dead now isn't it? And—and you're..." he couldn't bring himself to say the dreaded word to the woman he loved.

Soft, slender fingers cupped his face, wiping tears that streamed down his cheeks. "Its okay..." Lucia murmured softly.

"Its not!" Percy cried. "The world's going to end under the Titan's reign! Everyone, everything is...gone! How can this be okay?"

Lucia grinned cheekily yet it held a tinge of sadness in it as well. "Daughter of Hermes, remember? I'm full of tricks and...also the daughter of the god of thieves. Stealing power isn't beyond my limit."

Percy blinked at her, confused. "What—"

Lucia leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, silencing him efficiently. "Make me fall for you one more time, Perseus Jackson."

Then everything went black.

**PxL**

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**A/N: Well? Tell me what you think. The next chapter will be up soon if it receives positive support.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chasing Yesterday**

**Chapter One: Back To Square One. Different Girl By His Side.**

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Percy blinked, trying to clear his fuzzy vision. He was momentarily confused as to where he was. But the events from the previous days came crashing down onto him like a tidal wave. He truly wished he would just loose the ability to remember what had happened. Heck, he wished he hadn't been born as a demi-god.

He was wallowing in self pity, he knew. But with how things had gone to hell, his mentality just couldn't take it. If only, if only, he hadn't met and known Lucia... if only he hadn't fell in love with her...

He wouldn't have hesitate to take her life. Wouldn't have hesitated to give the knife to her so they could stop the world from ending. Stop all the misery that's bound to happen to the mortals just because _he had failed_.

Soft fingers brushed his tear-stained cheeks—he hadn't even realized that he was crying—and he looked up to see who's hand it was. But he had sinking feeling in his gut that he already knew who it was. _She _was the one that sent him back in time after all—his brain was still processing that information so he didn't have time for shock to kick in.

Glacier-colored eyes locked with his ocean ones. Those eyes that bore into his were filled with concern and curiosity. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Percy took in the sight before him. Lucia looked _so much_ younger than before—had the war truly changed her so much?—but her beauty was still intact—she would only grow more beautiful in the future. He belatedly realized that he was staring for too long and Lucia—the one back in the past, the time where Kronos hadn't possessed her yet—was waiting for an answer.

"Fine." It came out as a croak. His throat was sore and parched. He couldn't see properly but Lucia's hand reached for a glass of nectar—he idly noted that he should act as if he had no idea as to what it was since this was suppose to be his first time at Camp and was just learning about the existence of the Greeks—and she held the straw for him to sip from.

He immediately felt better when he finished downing the nectar. Once, the taste of the nectar would have been the same as the homemade cookies his mother made for him. But there was this one time where Lucia had sneaked into his house to meet him. He had teasingly challenge her to a baking contest, and she nearly killed his taste buds with the sheer deliciousness of the cookies she made. He didn't mind much anymore that the cookie wasn't even blue.

"W-where am I?" Percy asked, he tried his best to let his voice crack. It was best to pretend he knew nothing though he knew perfectly well where he was now. He could dig up some information on what time it is since the Last Time, it had been Grover that had greeted him when he woke up. Not Lucia. By time, he meant the day not year, since he knew—judging by Lucia's age which now seemed to be around fifteen or fourteen—what year it was. And it was may around the time his mom 'died'.

"You woke up earlier than we expected." Lucia explained. "Can you walk? Someone wants to see you."

Percy nodded jerkily, "Yeah." He didn't miss how Lucia had completely evaded his question. He wasn't offended though, she was here, talking to him without worry for Kronos knowing that she was secretly seeing him and giving him lee-way on every encounter they had.

He got out of bed and stood. Tried to anyway—he stumbled and would've fallen on his face if Lucia had not steadied him. She chuckled softly, "Yeah, right." She put an arm around his waist to steady him—and he could feel his face heat up slightly—and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll help you."

She smiled at him. And all of a sudden, Percy found himself taking back what he had thought before. He didn't regret knowing her at all, he would never—could never—ever regret falling in love with her. He didn't even regret it one second. In fact, he cherished it, every second he got to be with her.

She was worth it—the pain, the pang of loss and his time. Make her fall for him one more time, eh?

Oh, he will all right.

**PxL**

Percy drank in the sight before him hungrily. Not because he was awed for being here, but because this was the camp before war. Sounds of laughter and happiness drifted here and there—they were all gone once the war and attacks on camp started—and he loved hearing it.

Instead of playing some card game with Dionysus, this time Chiron sat with Grover, talking. Both looked pleased and relieved to see him—especially Grover. He played his part well, acting dumb and playing as if he did not believe in the gods.

He tried not to look too disappointed when Lucia was assigned the task of getting him a place in the Hermes Cabin and had to leave. Before leaving, she threw him a wink. "Its nice to meet you, Percy." He watched, mesmerized as her blonde curls fly behind her as she took off into a sprint.

He blinked and turned his attention back to the conversation. "Er...what are we talking about again?" He hadn't change much all right—his brain was as slow as ever. He could practically hear Annabeth's voice, saying: _You're such a Seaweed Brain_—all the while shaking her head in exasperation.

**PxL**

Time passed and Percy made sure that some events remained the same, there was a slight difference though. Because it was a different girl by his side this time. Instead of Annabeth, Lucia was the one to show him around—much more willingly and cheerfully than Annabeth's version—and got soaked by his water powers when Clarisse hauled him into the bathroom. But their first sword lessons were the same. He could do better, he knew but he didn't want to arouse suspicions.

He felt kinda guilty for taking so much of Lucia's time. He missed her and unlike Last Time, he had a plausible reason to seek her out, to spend more time with her before she defected—he still got no plan to get her to stay. He wanted to get reacquainted with Annabeth. It was always her job to make a plan. But he couldn't possibly just walk up to her and explain—_"Hey, Annabeth! I just went back in time and you see, Lucia will be turning on us and later become Kronos, I need you to help me make a plan to keep her here."_—and get sent to the mental institution.

Keeping his mouth shut on that was torture, especially when he saw Annabeth—she was looking at him curiously but Lucia said she always look at new campers like that, it will pass soon, she said—at the dining pavilion with her siblings.

**PxL**

The game Capture the Flag couldn't have come any sooner. He was dying to show everyone his water powers already—and it would only be plausible if everyone knew he was the son of Poseidon. And speaking of Poseidon claiming him, he considered telling his father about himself and what would happen. But his brain couldn't process that far, he would just have to make a split second decision on the spot.

He finally managed to get a chance to talk to Annabeth. The girl herself came up to him and told him what duty he has—she, of course, didn't tell him that he was to be used as bait to lure Clarisse and her cabinmates away from guarding their flag so tightly. But he didn't mind, he had done this before and knew what to do.

The claiming this time made him felt smug. He barely managed to suppress a smug smirk as it was. The first time this happen, he had been too shocked to register the campers kneeling to him. Now he wasn't as shock and could relish in the attention. If Annabeth and Lucia—the two girls he knew, the one from his own timeline—knew what he was thinking at the moment, he was sure they would gut him like a fish.

The very next day, the campers generally avoided him as much as they could. He had forgotten how lonely and miserable he was back then. Now, he got the honor of experiencing every agonizing moment alone again. He actually found himself anticipating his Greek lessons with Annabeth—the girl had volunteered once she found out her sibling was teaching him and was losing patience with him for not paying attention at all. He didn't mind even if he had to sit through boring lessons that he already knew; he took his time enjoying Annabeth's presence—she was one of his closest friends, even though he knew her feelings for him was more than that.

**PxL**

"Will you take this quest, Percy Jackson?"

"Yes," Percy answered instantly and without hesitation. Grover and Chiron looked surprised that he had agreed so quickly and eagerly. He hoped he didn't sound to eager though, everyone knew quests sometimes meant death—and who was eager to die? "So what should I do now?" He asked. He knew that this conversation had never been held before.

"You consult the Oracle." Chiron said after a heartbeat. He was too experienced to show his surprise. The centaur's eyes followed the son of Poseidon's figure till it disappeared into the building. There was something...odd about the boy though Grover didn't find anything out of the ordinary with him.

The boy's eyes were too old for him, for one. And every smile or grin Chiron had seen him wore seemed to held a tinge of sadness in it. And he looked genuinely shocked to see some campers walking around—as if he had seen a ghost. Then, there was the way he looked at the daughter of Hermes, Lucia Castellan. His eyes would always be veiled in complete anguish and sadness and yearning. He always seemed to be in pain whenever he was around Lucia and yet, the boy chose to stick close to her.

The boy was hiding something. And that secret could very well kill him—because the secret seemed to be similar to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Percy Jackson was truly an enigma. Chiron wondered whether the boy's mother's death has anything to do with it. He had changed drastically since the last time Chiron saw Percy—one of his favorite students—and he didn't like the change.

"Oh—Percy's back!" Grover's excited cry drew the centaur's attention back to the boy approaching them.

He leaned forward. "So? How was it? What did the prophercy say?"

The sea's boy threw him a cheeky confident grin. Chiron's sharp eyes caught sight of the falter before it was back to the confident smile.

"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend..."

The boy recited smoothly. He trailed off, eyes downcast; lips twisted into a displeased frown. "And?" Chiron probed. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't remember." Chiron knew he was lying but he didn't point that out to the boy. He almost believed him if he hadn't had that much experience with liars. It was almost too easy to tell with Percy: his eyes would be averted and his shoulders would be tense.

**PxL**

Percy shifted uncomfortably. His mind raced, trying to puzzle out whether or not this was the right choice. He fidgeted, hoping that Chiron would cut the crap and get to the point he want him to be at: his quest mates.

"You are free to pick two campers to accompany you on this quest." Chiron said and would have said more had Percy not interrupted.

"Really? Anyone?" Percy didn't give Chiron time to answer. "Can I take Grover and Lucia with me?" That was only thing he can come up with. Keep Lucia at arm's length and hoped that the succession on this quest will show her the truth—that the gods _did_ care and that she _shouldn't _be bitter.

"You already have a volunteer." Chiron finished quietly. Percy winced and sent a silent apology to Annabeth because he knew it was her that had volunteered. Just as he finished, Annabeth materialized before them, glaring at him.

"You're an idiot!" Annabeth yelled and took off running. Percy thought he saw tears streaming down her cheek. He flinched, guilt consuming him. But Annabeth in his eyes, in comparison to Lucia, was not as important as the daughter of Hermes. He silently hoped that she would forgive him for this—he would die if Annabeth hated him.

"So...uh...when do we leave?" Percy asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly

**PxL**

"Are you sure about this?" Lucia asked, brows furrowed. Percy thought it was adorable but he didn't comment on it of course, lest he got labeled as a pervert. His hands curled around the comforting shape of Riptide—he just got it from Chiron.

"Yeah..." He trailed off when he saw Annabeth's familiar figure running towards them. What was she doing here? To slap him as a parting gift? To curse him? To insist even more that she should be on this quest? To—

Oh. Percy's cheeks flushed when he realized Annabeth wasn't here about him. She was there to send Lucia off. Annabeth handed Lucia her Yankee's baseball cap—it was a good thing Annabeth was willing to give it to Lucia since it came in handy a lot of times—hugged her and wished her and Grover good luck. She threw a withering glare in Percy's direction and left.

"Well, then." Percy turned to face Lucia and Grover. "Let's get this show on the road."

He silently prayed that this change of events wouldn't come bite him in the ass later.

**PxL**

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**AN: I want to thank those who have reviewed, I was happy to see that it was liked. So I've gone ahead and updated the next chapter. Anyways, R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chasing Yesterday**

**Chapter Two: Chaotic Feelings.**

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When Lucia was offered the opportunity to do a quest again, she couldn't believe she had agreed. But maybe she was weak against those sea-green eyes that practically begged her to agree. Ever since her last quest with Ethan Nakamura which was two years ago, she swore to never go on one again. But the way those mint colored eyes looked at her, tugging at her heartstrings, she couldn't bring herself to say no.

And she felt guilty now. She'd known how much Annabeth had wanted to go out into the mortal world and this was her chance. But Percy had wanted someone familiar to go with him—and that person was Lucia and Grover. Then, there was the quest for Lord Kronos. She sighed, shoving the thought of the Titan out of her mind and started recounting the events ever since they'd started the quest.

First, the three Furies. She felt lucky that she had Annabeth's invisible cap. She'd ordered the son of Poseidon to leave but that idiot—albeit a brave and cute one—had turned back to help her and Grover. They'd defeated the Furies except for one and had jump off the bus just in time too, since Zeus blasted the bus into pieces. She was once again reminded of the gods' cruelty; did they not care that they might accidentally blast a mortal—or maybe more than one mortal?

Then Medusa. It was Percy's fault, his father was the ex-lover of Medusa after all and the father of her child who's name she couldn't remember. Apparently, the monster was still sweet on Percy's father, which was what had saved them from being turned to stones. Grover, blindfolded had kept distracting the monster by hitting her with a stick until he crashed. Lucia had handed the necessary weapons to Percy to fight Medusa and after that...she had felt useless. But she reminded herself that she shouldn't bother; she served Kronos now, not the Olympians.

It left her wondering whether or not she could convince Percy to join her. Even before they'd gone on the quest, she'd gotten quite fond of him. Kronos normally would chide her for having such useless feelings but befriending Percy into their side would be a great boost. Him being the son of one of the Big Three and all. There's also the prophecy to worry about, he'll fit the description if he joined their side.

She scowled as she thought about what had happened at the Arch. She'd pitied Annabeth who would've been thrilled to visit the Arch. So she'd suggested that they head inside just for memory; she'd managed to snag a camera before they left and had taken quite a lot of pictures for Annabeth to admire later. She'd a bad feeling, leaving the son of Poseidon alone waiting for them as the elevator door closed. And then, as she and Grover had reached down and was just waiting for the son of Poseidon to show himself, something shook the whole building.

She and Grover had ran out, only to see the last of whatever monster was there. When she saw no sign of Percy, her heart had nearly stopped, having come to the conclusion that he had fallen off the Arch. She and Grover had ran down again and searched frantically in the crowd for him. Grover spotted him first and Lucia had hugged him, crying, "You're okay," repeatedly. Thinking about it now, she was slightly embarrassed for reacting so greatly to him.

But she couldn't say she regret hugging him. He smelled of the ocean and was nice and warm. Thinking about the hug he'd returned made her cheeks feel warm. She found that despite his scrawny looking arms, there was some muscles in them too. He'd been raised well.

"—cia! Lucia!"

Lucia jumped slightly when someone shouted into her ear. She frowned at Percy that had yelled into her ear. "What is it?"

"What's wrong with you?" He asked jokingly. "I've called you multiple times already but you didn't hear me."

Dryly, she said. "And I'm hearing you know, no?"

"Smart alack " Percy remarked, grinning. Lucia's heart did a few quick somersaults at the sight of his grin. Sarcastic yet sincere, his smile was...warm. Unwillingly, she wondered will a mother's smile be warmer than his. And her mood went downhill from there.

"Well..." She looked around, trying to find something to distract her thoughts from his handsome smile and her mother's smile—she'd never had a _proper_ mother so she shouldn't hope. "Are you ready?" She felt him grasped her fingers as they entered the water park.

"Yeah," Percy nodded, grin fading. And Lucia felt disappointed at that. "Come on, Lu. Grover, you stay here, if we need any back up, we'll call you." Grover nodded enthusiastically while Lucia scowl at the nickname—not as annoyed as she should be though.

Percy approached the shield—left by the war god, Ares and wanted them to retrieve it on the condition that he hand them a transport to their destination—cautiously, followed by Lucia. She spotted a pick scarf and picked it up. The temptation too much to resist, she smelled it. "It smells nice..." She murmured.

"Huh?" Percy turned towards her. "Oh...where did you find it?"

"On the ground." Lucia replied. "Want to smell it?" She held out the scarf to him, smiling. Percy hesitated before taking a quick whiff of the scarf. He blinked as if he had received something unexpected.

"The perfume's surprisingly smells good." He remarked as he bend down to retrieve the shield. Lucia was too busy shoving the scarf into her pocket to notice something; and neither did her.

"What the—" Lucia gasped as she watched the cupids surrounding them shot arrows tied to ropes, criss-crossing one another to form a net, effectively trapping them. She swore in Ancient Greek. Grover was unable to free them and things got worse when metallic little spiders tried to bite them to death. It was a good thing Annabeth wasn't here after all, she wouldn't be much help. That doesn't meant Lucia was much help either.

"Come on," Percy grasped her hand and pulled her toward the boat. "To the boat!" He couldn't have been anymore obvious. He ordered her to buckle up in the seat and yelled for Grover to go to the controls. She looked oddly at him, having no idea as to what he was going to do. Only when water burst out of the pipes did she understand.

She bite her tongue to suppress her screams. She clung tightly onto Percy—disregarding the cameras that followed the two demigods—and buried her face into his chest, vaguely feeling Percy wrapping his arms around her. When she couldn't believe her life could get anymore worse, she and Percy were forced to jump when they noticed that the gates were sealed and unless they wanted to get crush, they need to jump.

Percy strapped Ares' shield to his other arm and cleared his throat. "On my mark," he said.

Uh, no thank you. He wasn't coordinated enough for the job. "If I'm going to die, it's going to be because I caused it," Lucia disagreed. "On my mark."

"Um...Sure." Lucia didn't have time to think how a child of the Arrogant Big Three could be so easy-going—she'd heard from stories that they usually were the leaders and not followers. Luckily, Lucia was good at calculating. The both of them landed in the pool and got out soaking wet. Okay, only Lucia got soak since she wasn't a child of Poseidon.

She shivered. "Damn him." The him was Ares of course. Percy smirked, instantly knowing who she was referring to. He then looked into the camera and yelled, "Shows over! Thank you!" The cameras shut off, much to Lucia's disbelief.

Her teeth chattered. "Ugh, I'm so cold." Percy turned to look at her in concern when she said that. He did the gentlemanly thing: he took off his jacket and draped it on her.

"Until we get you some new clothes." He winked.

Lucia's heartbeat couldn't help but speed up.

**PxL**

* * *

A/N; Well? What do you think?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chasing Yesterday**

**Chapter Three: Reactions. Revelation.**

* * *

Hermes' jaw hit the ground the moment he recognized his favorite—and most beautiful—daughter's long blonde ringlets and the long scar on her forearm—curse that blasted Ladon —but what drew on his extreme reaction was that: his daughter was hugging Poseidon's son.

"Y-your son is..." Hermes couldn't bring himself to finish that statement as he broke into a choked sound. That accursed son of Poseidon was taking advantage of his daughter: by hugging her in her weakest moments.

Apollo laughed and laughed. "H-Hermes, you should look at your face!" He nearly fell off his throne laughing like a maniac.

Zeus and Hephaestus looked baffled; Hera, Demeter and Artemis were bemused yet amused. Aphrodite was squealing like a fan-girl and kept on rambling, "Look at them, Hermes! Lord Zeus, you can't possibly want to destroy the boy!" and blah, blah, blah—there were things Hermes did not want to hear.

Hestia giggled from her spot by the hearth. Ares laughed uproariously, obviously enjoying humiliating the son of Poseidon—it must be one of the reason why he chose the boy to retrieve his shield. Dionysus yawned, not interested. Poseidon chuckled, "As long as they're having fun, why not?"

"What?" Hermes finally managed to find his voice. "No way!"

"Why not?" Aphrodite looked appalled. "Can't you see how they are perfect for one another?"

"No. Means. No." Hermes' voice was firm. Aphrodite harrumphed and turned away, obviously starting to plot a plan. He didn't want to offend Uncle Poseidon—his favorite uncle—but he knew the sea god's sons are heart-breakers he didn't want Lucia to hurt herself.

He wasn't a good father, not being there for his children and all; but he did want them to be happy. And possibly, not hurt in any way.

**PxL**

**Location: The Underworld.**  
**Time: June 20th—A day before the summer solstice.**

After everything they had been through together, Lucia decided that it was time she told them who she really was and what she'd done. She hesitated but the memory of Hestia appearing before her, telling her to reconsider made her think back to their encounter.

Hestia herself had appeared before her, in the hotel Lotus and Casino. Despite knowing what she'd done—stole Zeus' master bolt—the goddess didn't fry her on the spot. She'd merely ask her to think properly before acting and in Hestia's warm, fiery eyes—so unlike Ares'—she'd seen her days with Thalia and Annabeth. The days when she was still ignorant of her mother's insanity, in those times, she'd been happy in _that_ house. Days at camp filled with her friends, admirers and people that simply looked up to her. And... days spent with Percy.

_It's time I told them_—She cleared her throat and was about to speak when Grover let out a startled shout. She looked at him, wondering just what had happened when she noticed the shoes she'd gave Grover days earlier were acting up.

Oops. She'd forgotten that the shoes were cursed. "Help!" Grover's screech for help snapped both Percy and Lucia out of it. Lucia, being closer to him, snagged his arm and tried to hold her ground. But being underweight for her age, she was hauled off together with Grover.

"Percy!" She yelled. The son of Poseidon was running after them, but being uncoordinated, he kept tripping and stumbling as if he was supposed to have longer legs that will enable him to run faster. She couldn't comprehend why; he often did it on their quest.

Her heart filled with dread. The bag containing Zeus' master bolt was on her shoulder, Lord Kronos would want it. She swallowed, this was what she'd dreaded. After spending so much time with Percy, she found that she didn't want to leave him—for yet in-explainable reason. He'd shown her that the gods do care; though she still found it a little bit hard to believe.

Lucia extended her hand towards Percy. He missed a few times at gasping her hand because of the high speed, but finally, he managed to clasped her hand in a death grip. "Hold on to something, Grover!" She yelled the same time she released her hold on Grover—lest he hauled her and Percy into Tatarus as well.

While Percy and Lucia tried to catch their breath while stumbling towards Grover , the satyr was struggling to keep his hold on a rock. What saved him were his shoes—ironic seeing as it was the same thing hauling him towards death; it had always been a loose fit on his hooves, predictably and fortunately, the left shoe came off and tumbled into Tatarus by itself.

Percy and Lucia reached him just in time to see the other shoe come off, it tried to kick Lucia in the head but Percy batted it away with his sword, growling, "Don't touch her." That simple statement made her cheeks hot.

It was at the wrong time but looking at him now, she could imagine how he would look in the years to come. Just like in her dreams where, she guessed would happen had she not come on this quest, where Percy and Grover hadn't change her opinions of the Olympians. But the dreams still disturbed her greatly, though she had accepted Kronos' offer, she had not expected him to destroy the camp itself.

Thinking about that problem made her look down at the ground, ashamed. Her first quest failed and she'd been humiliated. Kronos had reached out to her then, in her weakest moments and she'd accepted his offer, desperate to get revenge. Looking at her two friends—though a part of her wanted Percy to be more than that—she supposed that it was time to tell them.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Percy asked. That was another thing that weirded her out; Percy always seemed to know what she wanted to do, seemed to know her better than she herself did. Looking into those sea-green eyes, she swore he was seeing right at her soul.

"I..." It didn't take long for the words to form, for the story to spill out. Grover looked horrified and terrified but Percy's reaction was what she'd dreaded. She dared, for a moment, looked into his eyes and was quite surprised that he didn't seem too surprise, in fact, he merely looked calculating. "Um, do you guys hate me now?"

"Um, that depends. Are you still going to serve Kronos?" Grover bleated. The air around them changed, the presence filled with more evil than before. Saying the Titan Lord's name must have stirred him and summoned his presence.

"Damn, Grover. Of course not!" Lucia just had time to admit that part before a pain so unimaginable wracked her skull. She crumpled to the ground.

She barely registered Percy's panic yells, or how he'd swept her up into his arms and started running away. Her mind was plagued by mind-melting pain, Kronos' voice, insistent—"_Traitor! You deserve to be punished!_"—and repeating and repeating—

"Lucia!" Percy's voice seemed so far away. As if she was underwater, his voice muffled by the water and it's pressure. If she really was underwater, she wanted to swim up, just to see him.

Another voice, as insistent but much more gentler than the titan's voice resounded in her mind—"_You're stronger than this, fight him!_"—warring with Kronos', causing a bigger migraine to form in her head.

"Just hold on, Lucia. We're almost at Hades'... palace. You'll feel better there, I'm sure of it." Percy's voice reached her, gentle and reassuring. Though what can be reassuring at Hades' castle she wasn't sure.

Concerned sea-green eyes were the last thing she saw before darkness claimed her.

**PxL**

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A/N; Yeah, I know I was skipping a lot. But it will be explain later as to why I'm doing it in much later chapters.

So... review?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chasing Yesterday**

**Chapter Four: A Turn Of Events.**

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Lucia woke to the feeling of an apocalypse happening to her head. Her throat was dry and sore; she croaked, "Percy?"

"Are you okay?" was the son of Poseidon's immediate answer.

Lucia made the hand gesture for water because it was literally killing her to speak. "Here," the tip of a straw touched her chapped lips and she gratefully sipped on the nectar. When her vision stopped spinning and when she could sit up again, she studied her surroundings.

"Where are we?" she asked finally.

"Near the palace of Hades," Percy clarified, packing away the nectar and ambrosia for later use. "Are you okay now?" the son of Poseidon stared at the daughter of Hermes worriedly, a knowing look in his eyes but he didn't say anything.

"Yes," Lucia replied. She stood up, felt slightly woozy but she managed to keep from collapsing Grover and Percy eyed her worriedly but they couldn't bring themselves to trample on Lucia's pride by insisting she was too weak to move on her on.

"Well," Percy said. "since you've recovered, let's get going."

Grover broke the silence that had descended upon them once they'd started trudging to Hades' castle. "Um, Lucia... what's your connection to Kronos now?"

The blonde girl shrugged. "I don't know myself. Maybe he'll find someone else as his replacement?"

Percy looked at her and said, "Maybe."

It didn't take long for the questers to arrive at their destination. Lucia swallowed nervously, knowing that Hades'd blast her to bits when—there was no room for 'if's—he found out what she'd done. As if sensing her anxiety, Percy's hand slipped into hers, squeezing hers in a show of reassurance.

She smiled shakily at him for his kind effort. It still never failed to amaze Lucia as to how Percy knew exactly what she needed even though they hadn't known each other for long—but can still trust one another on the battlefield. It was as if he knew her better than she did herself.

She didn't comment on it. There was nothing wrong with what he's doing...yet.

"Ready?" Grover asked nervously when they all came to a halt in front of Hades' front doors.

Lucia and Percy exchanged a nervous glance. "Yes," the blonde finally said and together, they advanced.

**PxL**

Percy knew Lucia was brave. But even he didn't expect her to tell Hades of what she'd done once they arrived in his throne room. Instead of going into a rage, he merely responded coolly with a, "I know."

That definitely surprised the questers. And Percy felt unnerved everything's changed, there's very little he knew now and without knowledge, how could he change the future which was so horrible?

"How...?" he finally managed to croak.

"Son of Poseidon, eh?" Hades rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "dense and obtuse as ever. Your father, girl, had arrived long before you did and told me what had happened."

"He knew?" Lucia echoed. "Then why didn't he question me earlier?"

"He just knew, you betrayed Kronos and as you know it, time passes differently in different realms."

"What's your point?" Grover asked, his voice trembled slightly before the mighty.

"You three have been gone for one whole month, everyone in your stupid Camp believed you all to be dead and that was also the same time, Kronos managed to secure another avatar." Hades sneered.

The campers of said 'stupid Camp' exchanged a look.

"Who is it?" Percy voiced the question they were all too afraid to ask.

"That blonde daughter of Annabeth," was Hades' prompt reply as his gaze landed on Lucia. "the little one that you accompanied together with my niece, Thalia to Camp where the latter in the end fell at the hands of my Furies."

Lucia snarled at the god of the underworld. "And you still have the nerve to say that after what you did to my best friend—what you did was why I joined Kronos in the first place! Humiliation only fueled my anger and determination!"

Hades stared the daughter of Hermes down as if she was a mere insect, which to a god, she must have been one. "And she poisoned poor Thalia's tree," the god continued. "Chiron's been fired and Tantalus have been assigned as the new activities' camp director."

"Damn, then we're just wasting our time here," Lucia muttered. "We've got to go now."

Hades leaned forward, sneering in a way that promised trouble for the demigods. "Not so fast, little godling, whoever said you can leave?"

Out of the shadows ever-present in Hades' domain, skeleton warriors rose, carrying weapons aimed at them. "What do you want from us?" Percy demanded. "We didn't have anything of yours and we need to return a Master Bolt before going to save my cousin's tree."

"My, my, what a devoted hero to the Olympians," Hades crooned sarcastically which prompted what Lucia said next.

"I can see who got daddy's genes." She muttered and Percy choked back an inappropriate laughter.

"But you see," the god of the Underworld continued. "My symbol of power is missing and I was wondering whether or not do you have it, daughter of Hermes."

"Ares took it away from me," Lucia answered without hesitation. "He was the one to catch me and snatched your helm away; my grip on the bolt was tighter and so it was still with me back then. Kronos told me what to say and I managed to convince him to help us in his goals. War is the only thing fueling Ares' power so he agreed."

Hades scoffed. "I should've known. He's a weak god after all."

No one stood up for the war god. Lucia and Percy were scowling in distaste, both recalling what Ares did to them in their respective battles. Grover whimpered, too terrified to defy Hades' words. The skeletons definitely couldn't talk.

"We'll find your helm, Uncle," Percy finally said, walking away. "and bring it back to you."

"Your mother, don't you want her back?" Fire erupted from Hades' palm and it seared, blinding and hot, forming the figure of a slumbering woman in front of the questers. Grover yelped in pain, as the heat burned him since he was standing the closest to the flames.

Percy stared at Hades coldly—a response that no one had expected from him. "I said I'd bring your helm back." He reached for the pearls and handed one each to his friends. "Smash it at your feet!" the son of Poseidon cried as he did what he'd just said.

The other two hurriedly followed his lead.

The daughter of Hermes stared at him in disbelief before demanding, "Why?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Why did you abandon your mother and save us instead? I nearly betrayed you!" Lucia exploded, thoroughly frustrated with the enigma that was Percy Jackson.

"But you didn't, the prophecy came true." That managed to subside Lucia's anger to be replaced by curiosity.

"The Oracle knew?!" Grover yelled. "Why didn't you say anything to us?"

"_You shall go west, and face the god that has turned,_

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,_

_You shall be betrayed by one you calls a friend_,

And you shall be able to save what mattered most in the end." Percy recited dryly as if he'd memorized everything. Which, in truth, he did out of gratefulness that he wouldn't lose Lucia this time. Annabeth was a dear friend but there were times he thought he loved her the way he loves Lucia but he realized kissing the daughter of Athena was different from the daughter of Hermes.

"So that means your mother's safe in the end?"

"Maybe," Percy answered vaguely. "But the prophecy's wasn't about her."

"Who's it about then?"

Percy met Lucia's eyes. "You."

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A/N: I kinda lost inspiration for this. The lack of reviews is not motivating.


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